Sausage, potato, onion, pepper. Yummy, easy dinner!

Healthy Kielbasa, Pepper, Onion and Potato Hash comes together in just 15 minutes making it perfect for busy weeknights.... Just sub kielbasa with Apple chicken sausage and potatoes with sweet potatoes!!

Kielbasa, Pepper, Onion and Potato Hash comes together in just 15 minutes making it perfect for busy weeknights! Add more Kielbasa and Potatoes

Baked Zucchini Sticks and Sweet Onion Dip #zucchini #zucchinisticks

Baked Zucchini Sticks and Sweet Onion Dip - I didn't make the sweet onion dip. The zucchini fries were delicious. This recipe was to make A LOT of zucchini sticks...so you wouldn't need as much of the coating as in the recipe for less zucchini.

A pinner said "This is our favorite way to eat broccoli of all time! My husband says he would rather eat this than fries. I put a few Tbsp of olive oil in a ziploc with some salt and pepper and the broccoli and shake. Then spread on a cookie sheet and spread minced garlic over it and roast at 425 deg F for 20-25 minutes."

The Best Broccoli of Your Life November 10, 2008 | By Adam Roberts | 152 Comments IMG_1.JPG You know you’ve done something right with broccoli when the person you made it for describes it to someone else the next day as “better than biting into a steak.” Those were Craig’s words and they were a marked change from the first words he uttered about the broccoli, before he bit in: “You made broccoli for dinner? Broccoli and sweet potatoes?” Then he did bite in and his eyes lit up. “Oh my God,” he said. “This is the best broccoli I’ve ever had in my life.” Later he said: “If parents made this broccoli for their kids, kids wouldn’t hate broccoli. They’d beg for it.” So what did I do to the broccoli to make it taste so good? I can’t take any credit. The credit goes to that formidable force in my foodie life; namely, The Barefoot Contessa. From the very beginning, when I used to go to book stores and copy recipes out of her books on little index cards that I kept in my pocket, Ina Garten’s recipes have proved to be that perfect combination of simple yet sophisticated; she maximizes flavors in ways that are both ingenious and incredibly replicable. Anyone can do an Ina recipe yet when you taste the finished product, it doesn’t taste that way; it tastes like it was made by a pro. I’m going to have a hard time this week not posting all of the recipes from her new book, Back To Basics. In the past few days alone, I’ve made her roasted pears with blue cheese and walnuts; her roasted sweet potato wedges (which I wrote about in the previous post); and from her “Parties!” book, her butternut squash soup and her roasted pork loin. As you can tell from these recipe titles, The Barefoot Contessa loves roasting. Specifically, she loves roasting vegetables at a high temperature until they caramelize. That’s the basic premise of most of her vegetable recipes in most of her cookbooks and that’s precisely what makes her broccoli recipe the best you’ve ever had. Normally, broccoli gets squishy when you cook it. Not this broccoli; it develops an amazing brown crust in spots. Then you toss it with lemon juice, lemon zest, and Parmesan cheese and you’re in heaven. Seriously, this recipe is so easy I can recite it without looking at the book. (Ok, I’m lying, I’m about to open the book just to double check….) You preheat the oven to 425. Take 4 to 5 pounds of broccoli (I just got two large bunches), cut into florets (but relatively big ones.) Here’s the key that she doesn’t mention in the recipe: dry them THOROUGHLY. That is, if you wash them. I saw an episode of Julia Child cooking with Jacques Pepin once when Pepin revealed he doesn’t wash a chicken before putting it in a hot oven: “The heat kills all the germs,” he said in his French accent. “If bacteria could survive that oven, it deserves to kill me.” By that logic, then, I didn’t wash my broccoli; I wanted it to get crispy and brown. If you’re nervous, though, just wash and dry it obsessively. Now, it’s easy. Put the broccoli on a cookie sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. (She says 5 Tbs olive oil, 1 1/2 tsps kosher salt, 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper, but I just eyeballed it.) Now add 4 garlic cloves that are peeled and sliced and toss them in too. IMG_2.JPG Roast in the oven 20 to 25 minutes, until “crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.” I shook the pan around a bit as it went, but not sure that’s necessary. When it’s done, take it out of the oven–and here’s where it gets really good–zest a lemon over the broccoli, squeeze the lemon juice over the broccoli, add 1.5 Tbs more olive oil, 3 Tbs toasted pine nuts (I left those out), and 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. She also has you add 2 Tbs julienned fresh basil, but I left that out too. IMG_3.JPG You won’t miss it: the magic combo of the crispy broccoli, the garlic, the lemon and the cheese will make this the best broccoli of your life. I guarantee it; you will go ga-ga over it. I’m so ga-ga over it that I would seriously consider a trip right now to the store just so I could make this for lunch. Broccoli for lunch? After trying this, you’ll never want to eat anything else for breakfast, lunch or dinner ever again.

Did you know that you can simply plant the top of a pineapple in a pot and grow another? Coolest house plant ever! Why, yes. Yes I did. We did this all the time in Florida. We had about twenty Pineapple plants just from clippings.

Did you know that you can simply plant the top of a pineapple in a pot and grow another? How to grow a pineapple plant.

I have actually done this but after 4 years I still had no pineapple but did have a beautiful plant. DIY of the day! Did you know that you can simply plant the top of a pineapple in a pot and grow another?

Colorful Deviled Eggs, Easter idea?

Colorful Deviled Eggs | Recipe By Photo Make the food colors just as you would Easter egg dye. A teaspoonful of cider vinegar in each glass helps. I used about 3 drops of food coloring in each glass. Take the eggs out when they're a pretty pastel color. Drain them on a paper towel. There's a psychedelic tie-dyed one--the blue one in the middle. That happens when you add more food coloring to the glass with the eggs already in the water.

such a pretty update on Easter Eggs! I do have to research about "healthy" ways to color / tint, maybe food coloring is ok these days. - fill with favorite deviled egg recipe!

This easy Easter recipe for Colorful Deviled Eggs from Recipe by Photo is a creative way to color your eggs this holiday season! Choose your favorite colors and watch your friends and family go crazy for this Easter recipe. Too bad food coloring isn't healthy :(

Colorful Deviled Eggs | Recipe By Photo I call them Pastel Eggs/Egg Fancies. Maybe I can get one of my kids/adults to make these for Easter Dinner. Lovely. AFS

Use food coloring to color deviled eggs. Cute idea for Easter.

Make 5-10 salad jars at a time to eat throughout the week and they stay very fresh. Mason jar salads. Great idea for work lunches

Mason Jar Salads! Great idea for make ahead lunches!!!

Mason jar salad recipes - these would make the perfect lunch!!

neat lunch idea.... SALAD IN A JAR From BOTTOM to TOP: Dressing Shredded carrots Cherry tomatoes Sunflower seeds Hard boiled eggs Baby spinach DIRECTIONS 1) Arrange ingredients in a large mason jar 2) Store in fridge for up to a week 3) When ready to eat: shake jar, place on a plate, and eat! You can make any arrangement you want… you can add red onion, cucumbers, radishes or peppers. Always remember to put the dressing at the bottom and the lettuce at the top—a MUST.

A (pretty!) guide to eating with the seasons. I love guides like these! They give me great ideas for in season foods to chop up for salads! I usually choose 2-4 items and make a salad of it! Makes a ton of possibilities and combinations!!

Eating with the seasons when fruits and veggies are at their best (and most inexpensive!) I never know what's in season!

Eat seasonably. When fruits and veggies are in season and at the peak of flavor.

Eat Seasonably, eat healthy.

finally--after years of living in Southern California near a Costco, I've never been aware of what's actually IN season... Eat seasonably

A (pretty!) guide to eating with the seasons. (Follow our other boards for detox, fitness, yoga and green living tips: pinterest.com/gaiam)

reeses pb eggs - but with delicious dark chocolate and only 6 ingredients! DIY-Reese Peanut Butter Egg Oh yeah its here…… Have you ever had one of these? Oh man I love them. I know what you are thinking. It is just a Reese’s Peanut butter cup in the shape of an egg can it really be all that different? But I am telling you it is not just a new shape. They taste better too. I love them, almost as much as…… These! Now those Reese peanut butter cup eggs really are great. But like most things homemade is even better. These are over the top delicious, the texture is perfect and the darker chocolate really knock these out of the park. These are really simple to make. The Whimsical Princess’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs Ingredients 4 cups powdered sugar 1 1/2 cups Creamy Peanut butter 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted 2-3 tablespoons milk 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 tablespoon Shortening Directions: Mix together the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and butter. Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until it becomes a nice workable dough. It will be just like play dough, it will be really easy to work with. Form the dough into egg shapes, and place in the freezer for about an hour. Place the chocolate chips and shortening in a glass measuring cup. Microwave 1 minute at a time stirring in between until completely melted. (You can also use a double boiler if you prefer, but I am lazy) Dip each egg in the melted chocolate and place on waxed paper until set. (I use a skewer and then slide the dipped egg of and cover the hole) Once they are set you can trim any excess chocolate off that may pool at the base with a pairing knife to make them look pretty. You could also decorate them with royal icing and make a really special Easter treat. Update***** I made these again for Easter and paid better attention to how I do it so I thought I would update this post with a few more tips!! Your filling should look like this it is crumbly but will hold its shape when you apply a little pressure. When you are ready to form your eggs grab a small amount and give it a good squeeze. It’s ok, squeeze it like you mean it! There see nice and pretty and ready for a lovely chocolate coat. I got about 28, 2 inch eggs. When I am ready to dip them I put a toothpick in the bottom, and dip it in the chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. If you want to skip the whole trimming the bottom of excess chocolate just hold it for a minute or two before you set it down. The egg is frozen and the chocolate will set up quickly and not puddle. I did wind up having to make an extra cup of chocolate when I did this, I don’t know if it was the technique or the number of eggs I made. If your egg is wiggly on the toothpick it means they are no longer frozen enough so pop them back in the freezer for a little while more. I can do about 8 each time I take them out. You could also just keep them in the freezer until you are ready to dip each one. I store mine in the fridge, they have a shelf life of at least two days could be longer. Ours never last longer than two days so I have no idea outside of that. I have gotten much better at taking pictures so here is a new pretty picture!

Homemade Peanut Butter Eggs. So much better than Reese's! I recommend using milk chocolate chips and Jif peanut butter.